


Saving the Damned

by everlovingdeer



Series: Harry Potter Short Stories [33]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Out of Character, Possessive Behavior, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 09:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20618411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlovingdeer/pseuds/everlovingdeer
Summary: “Did Professor Slughorn invite you to join the Slug Club?”Looking up from the textbook I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. “Hello to you too Riddle. And to answer your question he did.”“Well, you’re going with me.”





	1. Saving the Damnned

**Author's Note:**

> This was written a while back 24/11/2013 and has only been edited slightly since
> 
> An additional warning for majorly ooc!Tom

Word of Harry’s death spread through the great hall like an out of control Fiendfyre. All hope seemed to drain from everyone as we were presented with Harry Potter’s cold lifeless body. His body was carried in by one of the death eaters and was thrown unceremoniously to the floor. I felt the bile rise in my throat, my body filing with utter despair. What would happen now?

The crowd surged to get closer to his body, not believing it to truly be Harry’s body. Someone from the crowd took hold of my hand and started to pull me through the crowd. Turning my head to meet professor McGonagall’s eyes, I followed her as we soundlessly made our way through the crowd. Professor McGonagall was filled with new urgency, running through the corridor and pulling me behind her into Professor Dumbledore’s office.

Shutting the door behind me, she magically locked the door and started to ward the room. When she was done, she turned to look behind me. Following her gaze, my eyes settled onto my Professors who were all staring at me grimly.

I looked back at McGonagall. “Professor?” 

“I’m sorry,” she said, finding an envelope and thrusting it into my hands. “This has to be done.”

“What has to be done?” I asked carefully, looking down at the envelope in my hands and then back to the adults in the room. Opening the envelope slowly, I read the letter. I had even read it twice to make sure that I hadn’t misread the letter. And I hadn’t; that was what was making my stomach turn. The letter fell through my fingers as I looked up at my professors fearfully. 

Professor Sinistra stepped towards me, calling my name gently. I shook my head, stepping away from her.

“I can’t do this.”

A time turner was looped around my neck as I was handed an envelope. They were all deaf to my fears. This past year they had seen their school overturned and they’d had to put up with a lot. Losing Harry had been the final straw.

“Now when you get to the right time, you need to give this envelope to Dumbledore. Do you understand?”

“Yes, professor.”

“Good luck Miss Stevens.”

With a final deep breath to steady my frayed nerves, I turned the time turner six times, just as I had been instructed to in the letter. I watched as time reversed around me and found myself back in time, standing in Professor Dumbledore’s office. Or rather, in this time it was Headmaster Dippet’s office. It looked exactly the same. 

The room was thankfully empty, giving me the chance to compose myself. If I was to play the role that I had been assigned then I would need to play it perfectly. Gaining acceptance from the two most powerful professors at Hogwarts was the first hurdle I needed to overcome. Letting out a deep breath I sat down in one of the chairs that faced the desk and smoothed down my uniform skirt that had somehow changed to become a replica of the old uniform. 

At the sound of approaching voices, I straightened up in my seat and waited anxiously for the door of the office to open. It did seconds later and Professor Dippet walked into the room, followed by a younger Dumbledore. Dippet took his seat behind the desk, believing me to be the transfer student he was anticipating. Dumbledore stood behind him, watching me curiously as Dippet completed the formalities that were needed. 

Once everything had been straightened out, Dippet asked Dumbledore to escort me towards the great hall. I had been sorted privately into Ravenclaw and was to meet members of my house during the feat today. Once we were alone, I reached into my pocket and handed the envelope to Dumbledore. His eyes looked between the envelope and me, before opening it. His eyes looked over the letter and looked up to give me a single nod.

With that Dumbledore left me on my own at the Ravenclaw table to take his seat at the headmaster’s table. Students started to fill up the great hall and I fidgeted uncomfortably when I realised that everyone was looking at the lone girl who was sat in the great hall. Although everyone settled down in time for the sorting, people still kept their eyes on me. Merlin’s beard, I couldn’t do this. 

In my own time, I made sure to blend in and avoid attracting unnecessary attention to myself. That was one of the reasons that I was so shocked at being given this mission. I knew next to nothing about Voldemort and what he had exactly done. It was true that I knew the basics like him having made Horcruxes but I didn’t know the details. Maybe that was why Dumbledore had chosen me before his death? This way, with me not knowing the extent of Voldemort’s dealings, there was a chance of me finding some way to redeem him? If that was even possible.

The girl sitting next to me scoffed, pulling me from my thoughts. I turned to face her as she leaned towards me, lowering her voice. “Honestly you’re just a transfer student; it’s not as if you’re Grindlewald.” She held her hand out for me to take. “I’m Melinia MacMillan. Just ignore everyone and you’ll be fine – they’ll probably stop when the sorting finished anyway.”

“That’s good to know,” I said with a smile. If I was to stay here for a while then it wouldn’t hurt to make a few friends. 

The sorting finished and after a few words from the headmaster, the feast began. True to Melinia’s words all eyes left me and focused onto the spread of food in front of us. 

Nudging me with her shoulder, Melinia gestured to the food, “Hurry up and eat before it’s all gone. It’s all good.”

Once the fest had finished, people started to slowly leave to return to the great hall. Melinia rose to her feet and gestured for me to follow her. 

“Come on,” she said, leading me out of the great hall. “I’ll show you the way to our common room. There’s a spare bed in our dorms, I’m assuming that’s the one you’ll be taking.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smile, dropping into step beside her. I already knew my way around the castle but I couldn’t raise suspicion by knowing my way around perfectly. 

Just as we were about to set off, Professor Dumbledore stepped out from the great hall and called out after us. Melinia and I stopped to look back at the professor. 

“Miss MacMillan, are you planning to escort Miss Stevens to the Ravenclaw dorms?” He asked.

“Yes professor.”

“That won’t be necessary Miss MacMillan. I have already arranged a guide for Miss Stevens so feel free to run along to your dorm.”

“Yes, sir.” 

Once she was dismissed, Melinia walked in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room and left me with Dumbledore.

“You’ve arranged a guide, Professor?” I repeated just as a boy stepped out of the shadows.

Dumbledore gestured to the extremely handsome boy that was standing beside him. Cool grey eyes were watching me curiously and I took the opportunity to subtly scan him from head to toe. His dark hair was styled perfectly, not a stray hair out of place, and his uniform was worn following every single one of Hogwarts regulations. My eyes settled onto the Slytherin tie around his neck and the boy straightened up under my gaze. 

“Miss Stevens, this is Mr Riddle,” he said looking between us. There was no time for me to react to meeting the boy who would become Voldemort and so I didn’t react. “Mr Riddle this is Miss Stevens.”

I clenched my hands into fists at my side. Hiding them behind my back, I glanced up into the face of the man who was responsible for the deaths of so many of my loved ones. Letting out a breath I steadied myself and returned my arms to my side. 

The boy, Riddle, inclined his head to me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Stevens.”

His eyes narrowed when I refused to return the words. How was I supposed to ‘save’ this man when I couldn’t even bring myself to be pleasant to him? Dumbledore, seeing that I wasn’t going to respond, decided to intervene.

“Mr Riddle, could you please escort Miss Stevens back to her dorm please?”

“Of course Professor.”

Riddle left Dumbledore’s side to stand beside me. Dumbledore left the two of us alone and I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes at the professors back. I was supposed to complete the job that I had been assigned but I hadn’t yet come to terms with the fact that I was supposed to be helping a psychotic mass murderer. 

Riddle cleared his throat, pulling me from my thoughts. Looking up at Riddle, I waited for him to lead the way. We were walking quietly through the corridor when Riddle broke the tense silence between us. 

“You’ve hardly been a student at Hogwarts for a day, Miss Stevens, but you’re already taking part in the house prejudices.” He spoke, his eyes looking straight ahead. 

“Pardon?” I didn’t raise my eyes to look at him. “Houses prejudices?”

“You didn’t wish for me to escort you to your common room because I’m a Slytherin.” He stated his assumption like it was a fact. Riddle came to a stop, making me stop beside him. He set his eyes onto me, his gaze burning into me in order to make me meet his eyes. He raised an eyebrow, demanding an answer.

“Of course that’s not the reason.” I protested, meeting his gaze head-on. _It’s because you’re bloody Voldemort_. I continued down the hall, making him follow after me. “Professor Dumbledore told me about the houses and well our two common rooms are as far from each other as they can be. I’d hate to inconvenience you, Mr Riddle.”

I looked up at Riddle just in time to see him narrow his eyes at my answer. It was almost undetectable but I had managed to catch it; he didn’t’ believe me. But he made no other comment as he came to stop outside of the Ravenclaw common room. I glanced between the portrait and Riddle, hoping that he would leave. But he remained where he was as if he was waiting for something. 

“Thank you for escorting me, Mr Riddle.”

“It was no problem, Miss Stevens,” he said with a smile. I felt as if my breath was knocked out of me; when he smiled I could tell why his face was able to charm so many people. “Feel free to approach me whenever you are in need of anything.”

He still made no move to walk away from me. Looking at the portrait I waited for the Riddle and answered it with ease. Stepping into the portrait hole I looked back at Riddle to find him looking at me. 

“Goodnight Mr Riddle.”

He inclined his head towards me, “Goodnight Miss Stevens.”

The portrait swung shut, providing me shelter from his eyes. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my hammering heart. So that was Voldemort.

* * *

I had managed to integrate myself here in the 40s with, miraculously, very little slips ups so far. Over the past few weeks, I had grown closer to the other girls in my dorm and we were now sat in the three broomsticks. The girls were busy talking about a famous wizard who had apparently risen to wizarding fame in the last few years. Having no idea who they were talking about, I just nodded along.

I raised my glass to my lips as a voice cut in smoothly, “Excuse me, ladies.”

Peering up at the boy standing in front of the table I set my glass back down. I shared a look with Melinia, who seemed to understand why I was so on edge around Riddle, more so than the other girls. Of course she still thought that he was gorgeous but at least she didn’t ridicule my ‘unnecessary’ unease around him. While Riddle engaged some of the other girls in conversation I looked down at my hands, contemplating how I could escape. Would it be too conspicuous of me to duck underneath the table?

“Is there something you wanted Riddle?” Melinia asked as if noticing my reaction.

“I was wondering if I could borrow Miss Stevens for a moment?” he asked, smiling gently when I raised my eyes to meet his. 

Before I could protest, and I did try to, the girls had managed to hoist me out of my seat and pushed me towards Riddle. Staggering slightly, I straightened up and turned to glare at them. They smiled innocently at me before turning their eyes onto Riddle.

“Of course you can borrow her,” Melinia answered him.

Once he had Melinia’s verbal permission he offered his arm for me to take. Raising an eyebrow at the gesture I brushed past him without taking the outstretched arm. Riddle caught up to me and held the door open for me. Stepping into the street I glanced cautiously at him from the corner of my eyes. Merlin, I had a bad feeling about this. 

I silently followed him as he led me down the street. Letting out a small sigh I rubbed at my arms as the cold air bit into my skin.

“Was there a reason that you decided to drag me away from my friends?” I asked coming to a stop and making him do the same.

He turned to look at me then, his eyes scanning over my form before narrowing on my hands as I continued to rub my arms. “You’re cold.”

I tried not to narrow my eyes at him. He didn’t answer my question.

“I hadn’t really expected to come to Hogsmeade today,” I said instead of pointing out that he had avoided my question. My words were true; I had been accosted on my way to the great hall and forced into a carriage before I even realised where I was. 

An all-too-familiar and all-too-annoying knowing glint filled his dark eyes as he nodded at my words and started walking again. I followed after him. “And I suppose that’s because of Arcturus’ offer to escort you to Hogsmeade?”

I couldn’t help but scowl at the mention of the other Slytherin. 

“Partly,” I agreed, “But Black needs to take some lessons on being a gentleman. Isn’t he supposed to be from the noble house of Black?” I muttered the last part under my breath.

Honestly. I realised that the time I was currently in was very different from the one I had left but surely it wasn’t right in either time for a boy to accost you in the hallway and then demand that you go to Hogsmeade with him.

He came to a stop underneath a tree, looking down at the snow beneath his feet as I came to a stop beside him. “You are right, Miss Stevens, he is from the noble house of Black. You could be a lot worse for yourself.”

My eyes widened slightly at his words, having Riddle try to set me up with Black wasn’t what I was sent back to do. I just had to get that message across to him. A tense silence settled across us, both of us knowing that Riddle was waiting for my response. After a few moments passed I looked up at Riddle, meeting his eyes for the first time since we had left the three broomsticks.

“Perhaps I could to worse, but I could also do a lot better. Couldn’t I?”

Riddle remained stoic, looking into my eyes so much that I thought he could see my soul. He wasn’t learning legilimency yet was he? In case he was, I looked away from him quickly. There were a few more seconds of tense silence which was broken by my shocked gasp when I felt something drape over my shoulders. 

“You could do better than Arcturus, Miss Stevens. Much better.” 

I looked down at the jacket draped around my shoulders and back to Riddle as he made to walk back to the three broomsticks. 

“Are you coming?” He asked, glancing at me from over his shoulder.

I nodded and caught up to him. We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we reached the Three Broomstick, Riddle held the door and motioned for me to enter. Once I was inside I headed back to the table I had been sat up and found the girls still there. Sliding into the booth, I became aware of the eyes glued to me.

“What?” I asked self-consciously.

“What did Riddle want?”

“Nothing.” I ignored their disbelieving expressions.

“Well, whose jacket is that?” Melinia asked, gesturing to the jacket I was still wearing.

“T-Riddle’s.”

I looked around the room, trying to find him so that I could return his jacket but he wasn’t anywhere to be found. I didn’t see him on the way back to the castle either. Once we had reached the castle and the girls were making their way back to the common room, I excused myself and headed for the Slytherin common room. Standing in front of the portrait, I waited for a Slytherin to approach the common room. 

A small first-year girl approached the common room and I asked her to get Riddle for me. Waiting beside the portrait I tapped my foot only to stiffen at the sound of a voice. I stifled a groan; Black.

“Miss Stevens,” he said as he approached me. “Fancy meeting you here.” I acknowledged him with a nod and he took that to mean that he was allowed in my personal space. “Are you perhaps waiting for me?”

“Miss Stevens?” A voice called out from the now open portrait hole. Never in my life did I think that I would be glad to hear Riddle’s voice.

I turned to face him with a relieved smile on my face, watching him as he stepped into the hallway. “Riddle.”

“You called for me?” He inquired, “Was there something you needed?”

“I came to give your jacket back,” I explained, sliding the jacket off my shoulders. Riddle’s eyes drifted past me and towards Black.

“Thank you.” He smiled charmingly at me and took the jacket from me, never taking his eyes off from Black.

I looked between the two boys as I turned to leave. Black was the bigger of the two, clearly the more muscular, and was currently glaring murderously into Riddle’s eyes. But it was obvious to all three of us who would win in a fight.

As I walked away from them, I let myself think over the events only to stop in my step. Riddle knew exactly how territorial it would look in front of Black. He hadn’t done that on purpose, had he?

* * *

After the jacket incident Riddle and I had returned back to normal. I made no attempts to seek him out and only spoke to him when he approached me first, which was becoming increasingly frequent. Truthfully I was supposed to be the one seeking him out in order to complete my mission but I couldn’t bring myself to; my feelings towards him hadn’t changed yet. But I didn’t think it mattered. After all, according to all of my friends _he_ was interested in _me_. 

I only realised he was truly interested in me during the previous potions lesson when we had been paired together. All of the students had been sat in our usual places when Slughorn had walked into the room and started to assign our new partners for the rest of the term. 

_“So,” Slughorn said as he looked over the list of students, “That leaves Mr Riddle to be paired with Miss Stevens.” Slughorn briefly looked up from his parchment to send his favourite student a smile. “Right so once you’ve found your partner, your task is to recreate the potion on the board and set a vial on my desk before the end of the lesson.”_

_Turning back to his desk he silently dismissed the students who went to find their partners. Before I could contemplate whether I should be the one to move or Riddle should be the one to move, he was already sliding into the seat beside me and opening his textbook to the necessary page._

_We worked in relative silence, both of us willing to trust the other not to screw the potion up. We were both capable of brewing a decent potion. As I added the next ingredient to the cauldron my eyes flickered over to Slughorn’s desk only to find him watching Riddle and I **again**. When he realised that he had been caught staring he hurried to avert his eyes. _

_I turned back to the cauldron as it bubbled away, feeling the heavy stare of eyes on the side of my face. Steeling myself, I looked up at Riddle and met his eyes. He waited for a moment as if trying to gather his words. Instead of keeping my eyes on him I glanced back into the cauldron, unsettled by the look in his eyes. Since when were Riddle’s eyes so expressive when he was looking at me?_

_“The potion looks like it’s done.”_

_Ignoring the way he was still looking at me, I filled a vial with the potion. Writing our names on a tag I tied it around the vial and headed over towards Slughorn’s desk. Slughorn was busy helping some of the students so I set the vial on his desk and went to leave when my eyes settled onto an opened package and its attached letter. I took a peek at the package of crystalline pineapple and scanned my eyes over the note written in Riddle’s elegant scrawl._

_I headed back to my desk, unable to smother the smug smile on my face. Settling back into my desk I glanced at Riddle who stopped his writing to focus on what I had to say._

_“I feel flattered,” I admitted, picking up my own quill._

_“Flattered?”_

_“It’s not every day that the great Tom Riddle bribes a professor in order to be your partner.”_

_“You think too high of yourself,” he muttered, picking up his quill._

_“Oh please,” I scoffed as I started to take my own notes. “Not many people know of Slughorn’s love for crystalline pineapple and your handwriting is easily recognisable.”_

_“If you must know it’s because you’re the only other person that’s decent at brewing potions.”_

_Neither of us needed to point out that he was lying._

Ever since that potions lesson something had changed in our relationship but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what that was. I was sitting in the library, trying to finish off my potions essay when he approached me next. He slid into the seat across from me and waited for me to acknowledge him. When I didn’t, he cleared his throat and started to speak. 

“Did Professor Slughorn invite you to join the Slug Club?”

Looking up from the textbook I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. “Hello to you too Riddle. And to answer your question he did.”

“Well, you’re going with me.”

“I wasn’t planning on going,” I admitted remembering what a train wreck Slug Club meetings had been in my time.

“You don’t have a choice.” He rose from his seat and looked down at me. “It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Be ready for seven – I’ll be standing outside of your common room. If you’re late, I’ll come in and find you.”

Riddle walked away from me and I found myself watching his back. Did this mean that I had a date with him?

* * *

True to his word Riddle was waiting for me outside of the common room at 7 o’clock exactly. At the sound of the portrait opening, he looked over to me and scanned me from head to toe before nodding as if I was dressed acceptably. Clearing my throat slightly I walked over to his side and let him lead me in a slightly awkward silence towards Slughorn’s office. 

The moment we entered the office, Slughorn was standing in front of us to greet us. 

“Miss Stevens and Mr Riddle,” Slughorn exclaimed loudly, drawing attention towards us. Riddle extended his hand for Slughorn to shake, his other hand moving to the small of my back. I straightened at his touch, feeling it for the first time tonight.

“Good evening professor,” I greeted quietly.

Slughorn’s eyes snapped up to mine, having previously followed the movement of Riddle’s arm. 

“Good evening my dear.” He glanced at Riddle curiously, “Are you two perhaps dating?”

“We’re not professor.” I assured him, giving Riddle a look when it seemed like he was going to counter my words.

“Actually professor,” Riddle cut in, his hand moving from the small of my back to my hip and pulling me to his side. “We are, but we’d both prefer to keep it quiet for a while. I’m sure you understand, don’t you sir?”

“Of course I understand my dear boy.” Slughorn grinned knowingly as I aimed a glare at the side of Riddle’s face. He didn’t even bother to look at me. What was running through his mind? “Well you do make a marvellous couple – two of my best students. A simply marvellous pair.”

With that Slughorn excused himself to greet some of the new guests and Riddle finally looked at me, raising an eyebrow when he saw my glare. Moving out of his hold I walked further into the room, seeing him follow after me. When we were in a more secluded part of the room I turned back to face him.

“A couple, Riddle. You told him that we were a couple!” Riddle looked calmly down at me, that infuriatingly handsome smile still on his face. “Surely you’re aware that Slughorn can’t keep a secret. If he knows something, the entire castle will find out about it by the end of the day.”

“But that was the point,” he informed me calmly.

“You can’t say something like that without explaining yourself.”

He rolled his eyes. “Think about it for a minute Stevens. Arcturus isn’t going to bother you if you have a boyfriend. Let alone if that boyfriend is me.”

_Because you’re bloody Voldemort._

Deciding that I’d already had enough of him I went to walk away from him but he caught my hand in his. Interlinking his fingers through mine he pulled me back to stand beside him.

“Now where are you going sweetheart?” He asked in a sickly sweet voice.

I rolled my eyes for him to see and glanced away from him. He was enjoying this too much. Thankfully Riddle reverted more back towards his normal self for the rest of the night and so it wasn’t quite as unenjoyable as it would have been otherwise. The night came to an end and we were bidding goodbye to Slughorn whose eyes hadn’t failed to leave us all night.

“Make sure you escort Miss Stevens back Tom,” Slughorn gave Tom a wink that I pretended not to notice. “Be a good lad and protect her honour Tom.”

“I wouldn’t dream of compromising her sir.” He assured Slughorn and I struggled to hide my internal gag at their conversation.

Once we were excused, Riddle took a hold of my hand and walked me out of Slughorn’s office. Once we had turned the corner I went to pull my hand away from his but he held onto it stubbornly.

“Riddle-”

He pushed me slightly and I found myself backed against the wall. Pressing myself against the wall I waited to feel as if I was in danger when he crowded me with his body. But I didn’t. 

He brought his head closer to mine and I swallowed nervously. I looked up into his eyes, trying to gauge his intention.

“What are you doing?” I whispered sternly, startled by the intensity in his eyes.

“It would appear that we have a voyeur.” He murmured, moving close enough to me that our noses brushed. 

“Who is it?” I jumped slightly when my lips brushed his accidentally. 

“Arcturus.” He sounded distracted.

Riddle’s gaze fell to my lips and he pressed forward, one hand clutching my waist and the other pressed against the wall. The moment our lips met, my hands moved to his chest and I thought briefly about pushing him away from me. 

He pulled away from me before I could. When he looked around the hallway I cleared my throat and straightened up. “He’s gone.”

Riddle looked back to me and his gaze fell back to my lips. I looked away from him and he took that as a cue to step back from me. Holding out his hand for me to take, he walked me back to the common room and only released my hand when I went to enter the common room. The portrait closed behind me and I released a deep sigh into the empty common room.

I’d just kissed Tom Riddle.

* * *

The week following the Slug club meeting I had made it my number one priority to avoid Riddle which was proving particularly difficult to do. Especially because we shared almost all of our classes and he seemed to be hanging around waiting for me. Internally I was trying to rationalise my obvious running away as a strategic move because it was clear that the more I tried to avoid Riddle, the more he became interested in me. But I had to admit to myself that the kiss we shared had rattled me. 

I shook my head as if to remove the thoughts and glanced back down at my parchment. My quill moved against the paper in soft strokes when a cough made me pause. Looking up at the boy in front of me I tried to maintain a disinterested facial expression as I set my quill down.

“Can I help you with something Riddle?” I asked as he pulled out a chair to sit across from me.

Placing his things on the table, he spoke without looking up at me. “We’ve kissed already. I think that means you can call me by my name.”

I couldn’t help but flush heavily at his words, picking up my quill and looking down at my parchment as Riddle started his own essay. Only he wasn’t focusing on the essay, he kept looking at me. Merlin, I thought, wasn’t Voldemort supposed to have more on his mind than a girl. But maybe this wasn’t Voldemort anymore, this was Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle who, according to all of my dorm mates hadn’t even looked at girls until I had arrived, and had no idea what to do.

“Stop watching me please,” I muttered after a few minutes.

At the sound of a quiet chuckle I rose to my feet and headed towards a bookshelf. Tracing the spines of the books I searched for a specific title. Looking a few shelves up, I spotted the title I needed, a few shelves out of my reach. Just when I was about to summon the step ladder, an arm reached out to pull a book from the shelf. 

“Is this the one you wanted?” Riddle asked, holding the book out but continuing to move towards the bookshelf, crowding me against the bookshelf. He certainly liked invading my private space. 

“This is the one, isn’t it?” His eyes not leaving mine.

I looked away from him, pretending to scan the title so that I could ignore the look in his eyes. “It is.”

Riddle balanced the book on a shelf behind my head and placed his arms on either side of my head. I looked up at him cautiously.

“Our watcher’s back,” he murmured and gestured to a place away from us.

I couldn’t even bring myself to look away from him. This time when he leaned down, I rose onto my toes to meet him halfway. Kissing him should have felt wrong. I should have felt disgusted to kiss the man that was singlehandedly responsible for the murder of so many of my loved ones. Here I was, willingly kissing Voldemort. 

But I wasn’t. This wasn’t Voldemort.

He was just Tom Riddle and Tom Riddle was capable of being saved.

I pulled away from him and glanced over in the direction where Black was supposed to have been standing. Only he wasn’t there. Hands clutched my waist, pulling my attention back to the boy in front of me. 

Hands pulled me against a broad chest. “Tom, Black’s not-”

“I don’t particularly care.” With that he pulled me fully against him and silenced me.

* * *

From the very moment I had entered Hogwarts I had always wondered about how I would spend my seventh year. I couldn’t wonder whether I would become a prefect or even the head girl but now here I was 40s entering my seventh year. Merlin I never thought this would ever happen. 

“Miss Stevens.” I looked up at Professor Dumbledore who I had grown closer to over the last summer when he had invited me to his home. 

“Professor?”

Dumbledore set something down onto the table beside me and I picked it up. I stared curiously at the prefect’s badge. So maybe I would become a prefect.

“It’s courtesy of our head boy.” Dumbledore winked conspiratorially at me before glancing at the Slytherin table as he walked away.

Following Dumbledore’s eyes I glanced at Tom who met my eyes with a smirk, one that Melinia didn’t fail to catch. She nudged me teasingly and I rolled my eyes, reaching to pour myself a glass of pumpkin juice. Since Riddle and I had started ‘officially’ dating she had relentlessly teased me for the unease I used to feel around him.

People were beginning to stream out of the great hall and heading towards their first lesson when someone called my name. Glancing over my shoulder I watched as Tom walked up the Ravenclaw table and towards where Melinia and I were sitting. Seeing the look Melinia was giving me, I gave her a look.

“Tom? What are you doing here?

He held out a hand for me to take. “Ready for potions?”

Melinia pushed me to stand and I shot her a look. She gestured back to Tom. Rolling my eyes I rose to my feet as Tom picked my back and slung it over his shoulder. He offered me his head again and I took it. Using the hand he was holding to pull me closer to him, he led me silently out of the great hall. Tom only started to speak freely when we entered the corridor. 

* * *

Months into seventh year and everyone was busy figuring out what to do after school. I was taken aback to find that most of the girls were focusing on ensuring a good match for themselves rather than figuring out a plan. But then again, I _was_ the one in an unfamiliar time period. I was part of the small minority looking at starting a career. Melinia had been surprised to hear my plans.

“Miss Stevens?” A first-year asked, standing in front of Melinia and me, as we were walking to the common room.

“Can I help you?” I asked as the small first-year shifted nervously on his feet.

“Mr Riddle, he, um, he asked for you.”

“Did he say where he would be?”

“In the head’s common room.” 

“Thank you,” I said, smiling down at the first year who seemed to be all too happy to walk away. 

I excused myself from Melinia and ignored her as she called out teasingly, “Don’t keep lover boy waiting for too long.”

Turing into the corridor of the head’s common room I found Tom waiting for me in front of it. 

“What did you want Tom?” I asked when I was within his earshot. At the sound of my voice, he pushed himself away from the wall to look down at me. He smirked down at me and I pushed his chest playfully. 

“I just wanted to see you,” he said innocently, announcing the password to the dorm and pulling me inside with him when the portrait swung open.

“You just wanted to see me? Yeah sure.” I scoffed, following after him. “You’ve always got an ulterior motive for calling me here. If you wanted to see me, you’d come and find me.” When we were in the common room, I looked over the group of Slytherins sat around the centre of the room. “I told you.”

“Hurry up.” He moved to sit on the sofa and patted the space next to him. When I was close enough, he pulled me down beside him. “Abraxus needs some advice and in this situation we thought that advice from a female would be best.”

“Advice regarding what?”

“I’m betrothed.” Malfoy muttered, tugging nervously at his tie in a way that was so uncharacteristically Malfoy. “I’m going to get married this summer.”

“Oh,” I said awkwardly, getting more comfortable in my seat as Tom wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Well from what I’ve heard that seems to be fairly normal. So who’s your fiancée then?”

“Macmillan,” he muttered, looking down at his shoes.

“Melinia Macmillan?” He nodded and I muttered quietly to Tom, “No wonder she’s been so incredibly giddy lately.”

Malfoy straightened up in his seat having clearly heard my words. He reached across to take my hands in his and asked earnestly, “What does that mean?”

I looked at him contemplatively, “You like her too, don’t you?”

“Too?” He asked in obvious excitement whilst ignoring the snickers from the other Slytherin boys in the room. “So she likes me then?”

I nodded, my eyes widening when Malfoy used his hold on me to pull me into a hug. Tom coughed from beside me and pulled me away from Malfoy. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when he draped an arm possessively over my legs. 

“What’s your opinion then?” Tom asked when the boys all started to talk between themselves. 

“My opinion on what?”

“People getting married this summer.”

“It’s what some people want to do,” I said with a shrug, “But I’d rather prefer to get into work.”

“You would?” he muttered from my side.

Pulling the arm that was on my legs towards me, I looked at his watch and removed it from my lap as I rose to my feet.

“I need to go,” I explained, looking back at him. “I’ve got rounds to complete.”

“You can skip your rounds,” he tried to cajole.

“You’re the one that decided to make me a prefect in the first place.”

Picking up my bag I paused when he questioned suspiciously, “Who do you have rounds with?”

“Honestly.” I put my hands on my hips. “Potter. The same Potter that you know won’t try anything on me. So can I go now?”

He remained silent, an amused smirk tugging at his lips as he nodded. Making my way to the portrait hole I paused at the sound of Abraxus’ voice.

“You’re smitten Tom,” he remarked. “She’s got you wrapped around her finger.”

“And what’s so bad about that?” Tom asked in his normally haughty voice. 

Once I was outside of the heads dorm I chewed on the inside of my cheek. It was obvious that I had completed my mission and now I just had to do the hardest part. I needed to return home. With a deep sigh I touched my hand to the time turner that was hiding beneath my shirt.

I pushed the thought from my mind as I completed my rounds. When I was done I found myself standing outside of Dumbledore’s office. Knocking on the door I waited for him to call me in.

“Come in, come in.” Entering the office I sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk, fiddling with the hem of my skirt. “What is it my dear?”

“Professor,” I began quietly, raising my eyes up to meet his. “I – I think it’s time I went back.”

Dumbledore watched me contemplatively, “Do you want to go back Miss Stevens.”

“Of course I do.” Even I could hear the lie in my voice. “Of course I want to go home.”

“But it is still home?” 

At his question I removed the time turner from around my neck and fiddled with the chain. I couldn’t answer his question. Dumbledore stood from his desk and came to stand beside me, setting a hand on my shoulder.

“Can I see that?” He held out a hand for the time turner. Once it was placed in the centre of his palm Dumbledore walked back around his desk, staring at it. “It’s a remarkable piece of magic, don’t you think? It gives one the power to change a magnitude of things.”

“Professor?”

He didn’t acknowledge me as he placed the time turner on his desk and pulled his wand from his pocket. “Reducto!”

The piece of the now broken time turner scattered and I felt my heart plummet. I was stuck here – 

“Why did you do that?” I found myself asking quietly.

“A broken heart can do many things,” he answered gravely. “It would be best to not find out what it does to Mr Riddle. Although, now you do have a reason to stay.” 

After a few moments I excused myself from Dumbledore’s office and headed back to my dorm, his words echoing through my mind.

* * *

The next morning when I sat down for breakfast it felt different because I knew that there was no way for me to go back home. But I didn’t think I had a problem with that. 

I was talking to Melinia when I was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. Looking over my shoulder I glanced questioningly at the first-year standing in front of me. 

“Mr Riddle asked for you to meet him in the corridor,” with that the first year turned and walked away.

Melinia, having heard the words, ushered me away quickly and I excused myself from the table. Stepping into the corridor I found Tom waiting against the wall and made my way over to him. When I was standing in front of him he took a hold of my hand and pulled me closer to his. 

“I heard that you went to see Dumbledore last night?” He asked in concern. “Is everything alright?”

“Do you have spies watching me or something?” I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously but he only smiled innocently. “But everything’s fine.” And it really was.

Smiling up at Tom, I rose onto my toes to press a soft kiss to his lips. His surprise was obvious and understandable; I had never initiated a kiss before. It was one of the ways I had tried to restrain myself from growing too attached to him. But I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. Tom let go of my hand to press against the small of my back and pull me into him. 

When we eventually separated from each other, Tom wrapped an arm around my shoulder and led me out of the building, it was the start of the weekend and I didn’t want to spend the day cooped up inside. 

“Did you decide on what you want to do when you leave school Tom?” I asked, needing one last piece of proof that I had managed to change him.

“I wanted to teach at Hogwarts; I always have but I don’t think I’m experienced enough to.” He squeezed my shoulder. “But I’ve been offered a job at the ministry where I can gain the necessary experience.”

I smothered a smile by turning into his side; I had changed him. “So you’re not going to work at Borgin and Burkes then?”

“I had to make sure that whatever job I go into, will allow me the chance to become successful enough to support a family.”

“A family?” I asked, stopping mid-step. He’d never mentioned wanting a family. 

“A family,” he nodded with a smile. “You, me and a few children. But not for a few years yet – you did say that you wanted to start a career first.”

“I did,” I agreed, watching him closely. He was looking away from me. Trying to hide how big a deal the words were for him.

“What did you decide to become then?”

“An auror.”

He snapped his head towards me, glaring into my eyes. “No, there is no way you are going neat any dark wizards.”

“Oh if only you knew,” I muttered to myself, the irony not lost on me. Tom cleared his throat sharply, obviously having heard my words. “I’m only joking Tom – I’m planning to become a healer.”


	2. Epilogue: 7 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colour flooded his cheeks and he cleared his throat, “But rumour has it that you didn’t like professor Riddle at first but he got you to like him. How?”

_7 YEARS LATER_

Walking through the hospital wing, I made my way through each of the occupied beds and tended to each of the students. I was plumping the pillow for one of the students when I heard the wooden doors swing open.

“Just a minute,” I called out from over my shoulder.

Once I had dealt with the patient, I approached the group of students that were standing in front of the doors. Taking one look at the boy who was throwing up slugs into a bucket and the other boy who’d shrunk to the size of a mouse, I rolled my eyes. The student who’d accompanied the two boys, shared a look with me and picked up the smaller boy and put him in his shirt pocket.

“Let me guess,” I started, leading the group of them to one of the empty beds. “You were duelling in Professor Riddle’s Defence class?”

“Yes Mrs Riddle,” the unaffected boy replied. 

The three boys sat down on the bed and I excused myself to go and get the right counter potions. Honestly, fourth years were always so trigger happy when it came to duels. Shaking my head slightly, I walked into the storage room where we kept the potions and found Madame Embers, the head mediwitch, tending to a diagnostic potion. At the sound of my footsteps the elderly woman looked up at me with a smile.

“It’ll be just a few minutes longer my dear, and then we’ll have the result.”

“Thank you,” I replied with a grateful smile. There was no need for her to run the test herself, but I certainly felt more reassured if she was the one to do it.

I had trained under Madame Embers for the last 4 years to eventually take over her position. She had already told me that she was planning on retiring at the end of this year but the result of the test could make her change her mind. I, myself, wasn’t sure what result I wanted from the test. 

Pushing the thought to the back of my mind, I located the correct potions before making my way back to the boys. Pouring the appropriate dosages out, I handed the two boys the potions and watched them pour it down their throats. They gagged and I was satisfied – maybe next time they would think before casting such ridiculous spells or they’d at least bother to block the spell before it hit them. 

Two of the boys left the wing shortly after I had given them the potion, but one – the one that had been vomiting slugs – remained seated. He played with his fingers, peeking up at me every now and then.

“Is there something you need to say?” I asked gently, sitting next to him on the bed.

“Some of the girls in my year say that you give good advice,” he explained and I nodded encouragingly. It wasn’t uncommon for some of the students to approach me if they had a situation they needed to talk about.

“What is it?” I squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. 

“Your husband, professor Riddle that is, is the most handsome professors in the school,” started to say, making my eyebrows rise slightly.

I nodded, “He is.”

“And well, most of the girls in our year fancy him.” A red flush crept up the boy’s neck as he avoided my eyes, “Including the girl I fancy.”

I held back my knowing smile. “Really now?”

Colour flooded his cheeks and he cleared his throat, “But rumour has it that you didn’t like professor Riddle at first but he got you to like him. How?”

“That’s a loaded question,” I mumbled under my breath as I silently wondered what to tell him. “He was … very persistent, I guess you could say. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“And that’s what I should do?” The poor boy sounded so confused.

I shook my head quickly, “No that’s what you should _not _do. Pushing a girl into dating you doesn’t end well – I preferred it when he was sweet and slightly clumsy in his actions. He seemed more genuine.”

“Professor Riddle was clumsy?” The boy repeated in shock, “Are you sure?”

I nodded and reached out to pat the boys shoulder, “He was and while I’d like to talk to you and give you advice for longer, you should probably get back to your lesson. I know my husband and I know he won’t go easy on you for missing your lesson.”

“I guess you’re right,” the boy grumbled, rising to his feet as Mrs Embers approached us, the potion clasped between her hands. 

“If you want to talk to me some more, come down to the hospital wing when you don’t have a lesson,” I offered with a smile before rising to my feet.

Walking away from the bed, I waited for Mrs Embers to arrive next to me. She held the potion out for me to see the colour it had changed to.

“It’s positive,” she announced and I felt some of the blood drain out from my face.

I looked over my shoulder to see that the boy was still in earshot and escorted the older woman to a different part of the room. Letting out a deep breath, I stared down at the potion.

“Merlin,” I muttered, a hand coming up to cover my mouth. “What am I going to do? How am I going to tell Tom?”

“Don’t panic dearie,” Mrs Embers said as she handed the potion to me. “I understand it’s a shock, so why don’t you go and sit down for a bit. Let me handle things here.”

“Mrs Embers-”

“Don’t worry,” she said with a smile, “It looks like I won’t retire this year. It’ll be too much for a heavily pregnant mediwitch to run around the hospital wing on her own next year.”

Her words brought some sense back to me and I nodded, allowing her to escort me back to the storage room. I sat down at the desk, put the potion down on the tabletop, and dropped my head into my hands. Minutes past and I lost myself in my thoughts, wondering how this little development would affect the next few months. Maybe I could owl Melinia for advice? After all, she had only just had little Lucius a few months ago. 

At the sound of footsteps approaching the storage room, I looked up and glanced at the doorway. Rising to my feet at the sight of the man waiting for me to acknowledge him, I cleared my throat.

“Tom, what are you doing here?” I asked as he walked further into the room, approaching me.

“Is it too strange for me to visit my wife?” he wondered aloud, “Especially after one of my students informed me that my wife had had a test run on herself.”

“He told you that,” I said weakly and Tom nodded, closing the remaining distance between us. 

Taking me by my shoulders, he peered down at me, eyes scanning me from head to toe and looking for any sign of visible injury. “Are you alright? He said something about it being positive and I –”

His words trailed off as he stared at something behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at, and sure enough it was the potion vial that was lying innocently on the desk. Letting go of my shoulders, he reached out to pick the vial up and raised it to his eyes.

“Is this the test that was run on you?” he asked, meeting my eyes momentarily before looking back at the vial. At my nod, his voice picked up a hopeful edge as he asked, “And this is what I think it is, right?”

“That depends on what you think it is.”

“Are you pregnant?” 

A pause followed his words before I nodded, trying to explain, “I know we haven’t spoken about this yet and we need to figure out what to do-”

“What do you mean figure out what to do?” Reaching out to wrap his arms around me, he pulled me against his chest. “Are you not – do you not want our child?”

“No I do,” I protested, “But I thought -”

I trailed off, staring up at him. 

“That I may not want children,” he completed with the roll of his eyes. “Merlin’s beard, woman, the only reason I didn’t propose 7 years ago was because you didn’t want to get married and wanted to put having a family on hold for a while.”

“So you’re happy then?” I gave him a tentative smile.

“Of course I am.” He grinned for the first time, leaning down to take my lips in a deep kiss. He pulled away with a gentle smile and put his forehead against mine. “I’m not sure if this will scare you off, but I eventually want to have 4.”

“Four children?” I repeated incredulously. 

He nodded, pressing another chaste kiss to my lips. “One in each house.”


End file.
